1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging for the packing of a food product, of the type comprising:                a first sheet shaped to form a receptacle for receiving the food product and comprising a base of substantially triangular shape bordered by two lateral walls, which meet at a point, and a wall forming a heel portion opposite the point, and        a second sheet for covering the food product and sealing the receptacle,the first sheet comprising a pull tab for inducing tears, and tear guide means in order to allow the packaging to be opened, the guide means extending substantially along the lateral edges of the base into the wall forming the heel portion, first ends of the guide means extending into a flap which prolongs the heel portion and covers the second sheet.        
The invention is applicable in particular to the packing of cheese spread.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the following, packagings having substantially triangular bases are understood as being packagings whose bases are effectively triangular with straight sides, but also packagings whose bases have a curved side and which therefore have the shape of a sector of a disc.
FR-2 597 436 describes a packaging of the type mentioned above for the packing of a cheese spread portion. That packaging is constituted by two aluminium sheets. The guide means are strips provided on the first sheet. The first ends of the tear guide strips overlap to form the gripping tab.
EP-803 439 has proposed replacing aluminium by polypropylene in packagings for the packing of cheese spread, in order to facilitate recycling. The packaging described in that document is constituted by three sheets, and opening is effected by tearing the lateral walls and the heel portion of the packaging.
Such a method of opening is not entirely satisfactory in so far as only the lateral walls and the heel portion are freed from the cheese spread portion. The consumer therefore has to touch the cheese in order to remove the cover or the base of the packaging before the product can be consumed.
The packaging structure and the method of opening described in FR-2 597 436 are more satisfactory for consumers. However, such a structure cannot be used with a material such as polypropylene, which is much stronger than aluminium.
Accordingly, the tear propagation as provided in FR-2 597 436 would not be able to occur in a sheet of polypropylene.
Furthermore, it is tricky to obtain a perfect overlap of the ends of the strips, as described in FR-2 597 436, and in practice a consumer frequently grasps only one of the strips. The consumer is then unable to open the entire packaging, parts of the cheese spread portion remaining in the packaging and the consumer then having to touch the cheese in order to remove it from the packaging completely.